BAGAN, Myanmar — Myanmar took stock of toppled spires and crumbling temple walls in the ancient capital Bagan today after a powerful earthquake hit the country, killing three and damaging the top tourist destination. In nearby Bagan, home to a vast plain of some 2,500 Buddhist monuments that are among Myanmar’s most venerated religious sites, teams of government-dispatched engineers and architects surveyed damage to nearly 200 of the prized pagodas. "First we need to figure out the extent of the damage," Arkar Kyaw, the deputy director of Myanmar’s culture ministry said. There were foreign tourists there as well," said Khin Maung Toe, a Myanmar man who was visiting Bagan for the first time when the earthquake struck. "We are suffering because this is a great loss, as these (pagodas) are priceless."

Source: Viet Nam News August 25, 2016 10:07 UTC